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Saturday, October 16, 2010

GSC 100 PLUS TREASURE HUNT (PG) - SHOW TIME

Synopsis

More than one hundred teams assembled at the 1 Utama New Wing foyer in the morning. Many were starry-eyed novice hunters dreaming of taking home the four units of 32 inch LCD TV sets and many other fantastic prizes on offer.

Teams were given 7.5 hours to to traverse from Bandar Utama to Putrajaya in search of answers to 35 route questions and 5 Treasure riddles. Time wasn't really a luxury as along the journey teams were required to make mandatory stops at 5 designated challenge stations, many of them GSC cinemas, to complete 6 tasks which contributed something like 20% of the total score.

After circling around Kota Damansara, then Damansara Uptown and SS2 in search of answers, teams were led to a Futsal court for the first challenge. The task was to put a soccer ball into the back of the net, needing to navigate it past some obstacles in the way. I scored in my final effort from 3 tries; the first attempt I didn't quite bend it enough while the second attempt the ball swung too much. A fine job I felt since I can't even remember the last time I played Futsal. Even then, my forte was to stop goals rather than score goals.

Then off we went to Section 13 followed by Bangsar to answer a few more questions.

Next up was GSC Mid Valley for a Count the Logo Challenge. There were multiple sizes of GSC, 100 Plus and Hospis Malaysia logos, large and small, printed all over a poster. The crowd of hunters made the task more difficult than it really was. Their swaying index fingers proved to be a distraction to those standing at the back. With 6 points in the bag, we left Mid Valley for the next pit stop.

Before arriving at the venue of the next challenge, we hunted at Taman Connaught where we lost some precious time driving up and down the long stretch of road looking for a signage that was practically blocked by trees.

The Third challenge was held at GSC Leisure Mall, located close to the mid-point control at Hospis Malaysia. The task was to match the 3 pairs of eyes given to their rightful owner on the movie posters. A no brainer really. Full points for us once again.

We had to scurry to the mid-point in order to make the cut-off and we barely made it. But many like us who chose unwisely to linger around the earlier hunting sectors paid the price. I can't be certain but I suspect that many teams may not have made it here within the stipulated time.

The rest of the hunting sectors were scattered all over Puchong.

Next pit-stop was at GSC IOI Mall. The challenge here ended up being cancelled due to a technicality. We were later informed that the task was to watch several film snippets in order to answer a handful of trivia questions. The cancellation was a God-sent for teams who were running late.

The final challenge was held at Alamanda Putrajaya after handing in the answer sheets. Michael stepped up for this task and nervously knocked down 8 pins in his second attempt. A very good effort considering that he cleaned the gutter with his first roll.

Verdict

Movie sequels are almost always a major let-down comparing to the original, and this hunt wasn't any different. Though I was still in hunting diapers during the inaugural GSC Hunt some nine years ago, I can't imagine it to be any worse off than this year's event.

The used ticket stub treasure provided the only bright spark in an otherwise nightmarish hunt.

T2: Your ability in getting the next treasure really depends,On whether you know the end result of committing a traffic offence,But with a point returned to prove it is not a summons that I want from you,Simply an item given back to a patron upon entry to a GSC hall,Strictly submit to me a used one, or it is no points at all.Ans: GSC Cinema Used Ticket Stub

Crowd control which is key in any large event like this event was a let-down. I felt that the CoC did not do an admirable job here. One way he could have dispersed the crowd was to send hunters going off in different directions, eg. to different pit stops not in sequence. Even by allowing the hunters to pick their own sequence of pit stops would have helped somewhat. In addition many of today's sectors were not conducive for treasure hunting. These narrow streets were already crowded, never mind the 100+ hunting cars that arrived almost all at once which added to the havoc.

"With great powers come great responsibilities", Uncle Ben once reminded Parker ...... perhaps an apt advice to the CoC for his next event.

Overall Rating ★

★★★★ When is the next one?★★★ I actually enjoyed it★★ Not bad★ Should have stayed home